


Firewatch Kastle AU- Burnt Out

by orphan_account



Category: Daredevil (TV), The Punisher (TV 2017), kastle - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-02-27
Packaged: 2019-03-18 17:50:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13686720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: The year is 1989 in the state of Wyoming, Shoshone National Forest.Frank Castle is a fire lookout for the summer, the job involves him being sat in a tower in the middle of nowhere watching the forest for any signs of a fire.As his ex-wife whisks his kids away for the holidays, Frank plans to spend his time alone with his nose buried in a literature novel, or fishing by the glittering lake.What he doesn’t plan for is Karen.Karen is his supervisor, she resides in the tower closest to his, and through his handheld radio he develops a meaningful and soul-bearing relationship with her.What once started out as a lonely summer for Frank soon turns into one of unexpected romance.





	1. Day 1

**Author's Note:**

> Idk when I’ll post, my schedule is very hectic atm but I’ll try my best. Most of these chapters have some rather large time jumps!  
> Enjoy :) xx

**Day 1**

It’s pleasantly warm outdoors, the sun is bright overheard, it’s rays peeking through the trees to cast a glow on Frank’s skin.  
The air seems to have a thickness to it that envelopes him, each inhaled breath is a weight on his lungs.  
He’s been camping for three days in order to get to his tower, and it has felt strangely refreshing. To be apart from people or their irritating complaints and to have sole time to himself in the great outdoors.  
The forest is lush with greens and tall oak trees, towering above him like giants, and he swore he saw at least three wild animals on the way over.  
The paths are worn into the ground, dry dirt like sand that sticks to his shoes and the back of his legs.  
It’s been a while since he’d been into the depths of nature, the last time he can remember being so close to the outdoors was as a child, frequenting on camping trips with his parents in the summer. Almost every trip ended with his parents yelling at him for some prank he pulled on a neighbouring family, or for sneaking off into the woods for a smoke.  
When he saw the job advertised in the paper, he almost leapt out of his seat with joy. Three months of peaceful solitude.  
The job involves him sat on his ass in a tower for most of the day, watching for fires, but it’s more of a wonderful escape.  
He would have the whole forest to himself, just him and his thoughts. He has a few other things to do, to stop people from starting campfires or letting off fireworks, but he isn’t too worried about that. Frank can be very commanding when necessary.  
His ex, Maria, told him she was taking the kids away on holiday somewhere exotic for the summer, and it left him heartbroken. The last thing he wanted to do was spend his summer at home, surrounded by the pity of others, and the constant gloom of an empty house.  
Instead, he goes away to Shoshone, books in his backpack and a need for adventure in his heart.  
He’s been so busy too, with the kids and life and trying to balance everything perfectly. He can’t remember the last time he had a peaceful moment to himself.  
Frank scratches his beard in thought, gazing at the map with interest and considering where to go next. He then proceeds to go into a direction that he deems is right, the sun bearing down on him from above.  
It’s so damn quiet out here, it’s one of the first things that becomes so apparent to him since he started hiking. Every snapped twig he steps on makes his own heart jump, he’s gotten so used to the eery silence that he forgets about the sound.  
Frank gets wearier as the day goes on, when he stops to eat his lunch, the weight of drowsiness is so heavy he has to start moving again to stop his eyelids from drooping closed. At this point, sleep sounds like such a beautiful idea that it’s the one thing keeping him going. The idea of curling up in his cot and becoming so dead to the world that he doesn’t even dream is perfection.  
By the time he sees his tower, lovingly named ‘Blackbird Tower’, it’s getting darker outside, the sun setting in the distance.  
It looks idyllic, the shabbily painted wooden frame in front of him, surrounded by pine trees and paths that have been etched into the ground over time. The breeze rustles the grass at his feet and gently teases his hair.  
And Frank breaths in the smell of it all, dirt, clean air, the wood and absolute freedom.  
It’s fucking amazing.  
He climbs the stairs to the top, and by the time he gets there, he’s short on breath, making a note that he should probably take the time over the summer to develop his stamina more.  
The door creaks as he opens it, the noisiness of the wind disappearing in under a second when it shuts too, and then there’s silence once more.  
The interior is cosy looking, teal wallpaper you can barely see over the sheer length of the windows and wooden floorboards that creak when you step on them. The kitchen part it modestly sized, wood burner stove and logs stacked neatly next to it.  
Every counter has something on it, cleaning products or books and even a coffee percolator, organised mess is what Frank would call it.  
There’s a desk to his immediate left, a bright orange lamp and post-it notes scattered upon the surface.  
His bed is in the far right corner, freshly cleaned sheets and a green blanket tightly tucked against the frame; it’s probably just big enough to fit his body on it too. It’s not the Ritz, but it’s definitely something.  
The windows are huge and are on every wall, showing the beauty of the outdoors, the sea of green and the soft pink sky.  
It’s simplistic, and that’s what he likes about it. It’s cleaner in it’s looks from the busyness of everyday life and his house.  
This is his home for a while, and he’s happy with it.  
And as Frank sets his bag down on the floor he feels absolute exhaustion come over him, so he staggers to his bed, collapsing on it and pulling his boots off in the process.  
Sleep comes over him quickly, and through his half open eyes he sees the sun disappear. And he smiles.


	2. Day 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frank meets his overwhelmingly friendly supervisor Karen via his walkie talkie.

**Day 2**  
Frank rises pretty in the morning, the light coming through the windows disrupts his sleep and he awakes with a grunt, rubbing his eyes until they adjust to the brightness.  
His whole head feels detached from his body, and he feels like he’s floating. Like he has no control over his limbs.  
He swings his legs over the side of the bed and pulls himself up, getting changed into fresh clothes and washing his face, letting the cooling water wake him up.  
Frank makes a pot of coffee, pouring the life-giving liquid into a cup and basking in its heat, warming himself up on this particularly cold morning.  
Although his eyelids seem to droop closed as he does anything, the overwhelming tiredness from the hike was pushing him a bit, and he’d probably end up going back to sleep pretty soon.  
He makes his way outside, sipping his coffee and leaning on the railing to look at the forest properly.  
It looks peaceful, a light mist coating the tips of the trees and leaving an almost ethereal look to it all. It’s breathtaking, and Frank wants to stay wrapped up in this moment forever.  
“Hello? Is anyone there? Hellooooooooo...” a female voice sounds from inside, and Frank jumps in surprise at the sudden noise.  
He comes inside and places his coffee cup down on the desk, and notices something he didn’t see before. A walkie talkie.  
He picks it up hesitantly, looking at with confusion, wondering if there was any sound at all or whether it was all in his head.  
“This is Bulletin Lookout, come in Blackbird Tower.” She speaks again and Frank almost drops the radio, managing to grip it properly before it falls.  
He looks for the right button, gingerly pressing it before speaking. “Hello?”  
“Ah! You’re awake! Sorry if I woke you up or anything, just wanted to check in. I’m Karen, your supervisor, and I was told you’d get here yesterday. I’m in Bulletin Lookout, the tower across from you. Did you get here ok?”  
Frank spins around his room, looking for the tower she talks about, and stopping when he does. It’s pretty far away, but it’s there in the distance. A smaller tower, propped up on a mountain, secluded from the rest of the forest.  
“Yes, I did thank you. It was a pretty exhausting hike, but it was really nice actually. The forest here is _phenomenal_. I’m Frank... by the way.”  
He makes his way towards the edge of the room to get a closer look at where she is, resting his elbows on the window edge to stare out the window.  
She chuckles, a luscious sound that fills him with joy. “Well Frank, you have the entire summer to explore it. There isn’t usually much to do here, so you can have fun. _But_ , not too much fun. No fireworks and such, we have a forest to protect.”  
“Don’t worry ma’am, I’m not going to go around starting fires. I have a license, so I’m thinking... fishing maybe.”  
“Fishing huh? Well, you’re in luck. We have a lake nearby, filled to the brim with all the fish you can think of. There should be a fully labelled map in one of the drawers of your desk...”  
Frank pulls the top drawer open and, sure enough, there’s a map of the forest, the lake labelled.  
“I have it here.” He squints at it, unfolding the paper on his desk to try and work out all the little scribbles in red pen.  
“Perfect! You can explore until your hearts content.”  
There’s a couple moments of silence before Frank speaks, wondering if he should even say what he’s thinking.  
“Sorry if this seems rude but... I didn’t think anyone else would be out here.”  
“Oh, you mean you didn’t think you’d be interacting with another human.”  
Frank wants to kick himself for sounding so much like an asshole, but he can’t take it back now.  
“No, no, no, no I don’t mean that... I mean...” Frank’s not usually exasperated, but this time he is, not sure as to what to say next.  
Karen giggles from the other line and Frank feels himself relax a bit.  
“I’m just messing with you Frank! I know what you meant, you weren’t prepared for there to be too many conversations with your supervisor. Don’t worry though, I won’t be bothering you very often, hardly anyone comes here in the summer, so I won’t really need to send you on any trips.”  
“That’s... good to hear,” Frank sighs, letting his head drop forward, worried his whole plan would have gone down the drain.  
“Have you ever been in the fire watch before?” She inquires, and Frank wonders how many scouts have been in this tower before him, and how many she has talked to.  
“No, this is my first time. How long have you been working here?” She doesn’t sound very old, yet not too young either. Frank would guess she’s around his age, give or take a few years. With how young she sounds, he guesses it’s more take.  
“Over ten years now, every single summer.”  
“Oof.” Frank raises his eyebrows, unable to imagine doing this every year. He’s gotten so used to spending every summer with his kids, that he isn’t even sure what it would be like without them anymore.  
“You may be wondering why I would choose to do this every summer for years on end, the answer is that I love it. It’s like an addiction for me. That and I kinda like pissing off this ranger, Randy, he bet I wouldn’t make it through the entire summer the first time I worked here. Now look at me.”  
“You’re almost a part of the forest now. The wise owl of Shoshone.”  
He hears a clap from the other end and it startles him slightly, not expecting to hear a noise so loud this early in the morning. “Ha! Exactly! You get it Frank. If I’m a wise owl as you say... then what animal are you?”  
Frank taken aback at her overwhelming friendliness, and her want to have a conversation with him. Maybe she’s a bit lonely out here, or maybe she’s just this welcoming towards everyone. Whatever it is, it’s comforting.  
“Let’s see...” she continues, and he can hear tapping as she thinks, “a deer? Y’know, timid and wild, athletic and active. You’re probably a pretty active person if you came all the way out here to hike around a forest for the summer.”  
Frank scoffs, thinking of his tall stature and wide frame, not to mention his beard.  
“I don’t know ma’am, if you’ve ever seen me you would think I’m more like a... like a bear. Big and scruffy and-“  
“Loveable?” She teases. “C’mon, bears are adorable. Sure, they’ll maul you to death if you get too close, but on the inside they’re just fuzzy, loving creatures.”  
“Listen, you just ruined my vision of me being a strong bear with sharp teeth and a vicious personality.” Frank grins, the first time in a while he’s felt himself smile, and the first time in a while he managed to let go of his worries and relax.  
It’s isolated out here, but her friendly voice almost makes it feel like a home already, and after hearing her talk more he hopes her presence will be a bit more recurring.  
“Sorry Frank, couldn’t help it. What are your plans for today?”  
Frank suddenly feels the weight of exhaustion come over him, but in a way, it’s a pleasant sort of exhaustion. He knows that he won’t have to rush off anywhere soon and can laze around in his cosy tower all day.  
“Probably sleep some more. That hike was something else.”  
“Yeah, I remember the first time I did it too. It really puts you off for a few days, but you’ll feel better after some rest. I just slept and read books when I got here, it’s really bizarre how quiet it is, but you come to really appreciate it.”  
Karen sounded like an old soul, so at peace with the world. Her voice was soothing and Frank felt all the muscles in his body relax suddenly, any anxiety he had drifted away into the forest.  
“I’m planning on reading too. I don’t really get to at home, I work a lot and then I take care of my kids, which I love doing of course, but I never really get any time to myself. I’m _really_ looking forward to just doing nothing for once.”  
He leans against the window to her tower to stare at it more, pressing his forehead to the cool windowpane and exhaling.  
He hears her chuckle softly, as if reminiscing about a past memory in content.  
“That’s definitely what you’ll be doing, so don’t worry.” Karen pauses, he hears a rifling of papers and a quiet hum. “So, hey, let me know if there’s anything you need. Otherwise I’ll just assume you’re fine. Enjoy your summer... Frank.”  
The way she says his name makes the hairs on his arms stand up and heart beat faster, and his eyes widen as he looks at her tower.  
“Thanks Karen. You too.”  
His slid back into bed and wandering thoughts of her made him smile softly, and he couldn’t help but want to know her more.  
For once, Frank didn’t feel so alone, and the prospect of talking to her made him wondrously excited.


	3. Day 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frank encounters a problem and gets to know Karen a little better.

**Day 9**  
Frank spent most of his days in the sunshine, pulling out an old camp chair from his room to set up at the base of the tower, book in one hand and an apple in the other.  
He brings the radio too, and waits everyday to see if Karen talks to him. But she doesn’t.   
Frank was intrigued by her, he hadn’t expected anyone first of all, much less a person as chipper as she appeared to be.  
For the life of him, he couldn’t understand why he was so fascinated by her.  
The sun had moved slowly over the sky, not a cloud in sight, and Frank was getting itchy. He wanted to move, maybe do some walking.  
He wasn’t bored of reading, god no, but being sat here all day made his legs stiff and he wanted to stretch out so badly.  
He packed up his chair and books, storing them away in his cabin. He’s just about to grab his bag and leave when his radio sounds.  
“You there Frank?”  
He can’t help but smile at the sound of her voice, turning his back to pick up the abandoned walkie talkie on his desk.  
“Yeah I’m here.”   
“Good because I need your help. Sorry to interrupt your beautifully constructed summer, but... do you see the plume of smoke to the south of you?”  
Frank spins around and notices what she’s talking about almost immediately, walking to the south facing window and squinting at the thin trace of smoke.  
“I see it. You want me to investigate that? Find the culprit and give ‘em a good telling off?” He jokes, running his fingers through his beard as he waits for her response.  
“Something like that,” she laughs, “you’re closest to the site, I need you to go down and stomp out that campfire, telling whatever punks are there to beat it. That shit's dangerous, I can't have that fire getting out of control.”  
“No problem ma’am. I’ll head along the south facing path now. Do you get a lot of people starting campfires around here?”  
He slings his backpack on his shoulder and slides his radio onto his belt, shutting the door behind him as he goes.  
The warm air hits Frank like a wall, and he has to wipe the sudden sweat off of his brow to try and cool himself down. It’s scenic out here but it’s goddamn _hot_.  
“Not usually. More fireworks than anything else, and it’s totally illegal but people still do it. Kids these days right?”  
“Right...” he murmurs, making his way down the trail, a map in one hand and the radio in the other.  
The walk down is gorgeous, the light dancing on the path and the tweeting of the birds is so serene, and Frank’s glad he got the chance to explore the forest today.  
Karen’s voice sounds from the radio, curiosity in her voice.  
“So, uh... why did you come down here?”  
“What?” He replies in confusion, staring at the map from an angle, dragging his eyes down the red markings in an attempt to figure out where he is.  
“I mean like, why did you become a lookout this summer? Everyone has their reasons, I’m just wondering what yours is. Jealous ex lover? Fired from your job? Or maybe... you did something completely illegal and you’re running from the authorities!” She sounds pretty proud of that last part, almost excited.  
He chuckles softly, “nope. Nothing like that just... my uh, ex wife. She took my kids away for the summer, and I was really looking forward to seeing them y’know? I didn’t like the idea of being at home where I would get pitying looks from people I know. I thought maybe, take this time to clear my head, reconnect with myself or something.”  
As soon as he’s finished speaking he’s realised what he’s done. Frank has shared something personal, with a person he doesn’t know. That’s a first for him.  
He usually just bottles things up and hopes that the storm on his heart blows over, he never seeks the help or comfort from others.   
He doesn’t even know if it’s too much to share, he’s not sure about what you are supposed to share these days, he’s been alone for so long he almost forgot how to socialise with other people. But instead of her seizing up like he expects, she continues talking.  
“I get that. A lot of folks come out here for that reason, y’know not the whole kids part but the reconnecting part. It’s really quiet here and when the sun goes down you can just... get lost.”  
She sounds wistful, and he doesn’t want to interrupt her, so he continues in silence for a few minutes before curiosity gets the better of him.  
“So... why’d you come out here? You sound pretty used to all of this, have you been doing this for a while?”  
“Well, yes. Quite a number of years now. I used to go to a summer camp as a kid and I hated it, mostly because the girls there would steal my stuff and call me names. And then a few years ago I realised that I actually loved the camp, just not the people there. The exploring part of it, the outdoors and how everything is right there for you to see. So after I had a bad break up I decided I needed time to myself for once, no people. Just me. Coming here lets you have this all important time with your thoughts that a lot of people don’t get the luxury of having.”  
“What was his name? The guy you broke up with.”   
“Oh, it was Matt. He was a lawyer, and he was charming as hell. But he kept lying to me, and in the end I think that’s what drove us apart. Looking back on it, I don’t think either of us were ready for a relationship.”  
She suddenly goes really quiet, and Frank decides not to ask her any more questions for a while, he doesn’t want to make her upset.  
He readjusts himself and sets down the path, the smoke coming more and more into view until he spots a figure on the path ahead... a deer.  
“Hey... I can see a deer right now,” he whispers, lowering his stance and making his way towards it slowly, all the while it keeps staring at him, unmoving.  
“Be careful, I heard they like to eat new lookouts,” she whispers back, and Frank shakes his head with a soft smile.  
He inches towards it, bit by bit, being as cautious and slow as he can to not scare it. He doesn’t know what exactly he’ll do if he gets close to it, maybe touch it?  
It’s still, ears twitching and eyes watching him suspiciously. It feels like one of those wondrous moments, one of those memories that you recount multiple times in excruciating detail.   
A shriek rumbles over his radio and the deer bolts back into the forest in a split second, and Frank is left stood there crouched low on the path like an idiot.  
“Are you ok?” He calls down the line, a looming feeling of fear in his chest.  
“Yes! I’m- oh man that scared the _shit_ outta me,” she laughs coarsely, and Frank furrows his brows in confusion.  
“What? What happened?”   
“There was a spider! A huge spider that just crawled across my desk right in front of me and let me just say that I was not expecting that at all.”  
Franks shoulders droop and he lets out a sigh. “That was it? A spider? You know you scared the deer away when you made all that noise? I can’t believe this... a spider of all things,” he grumbles, shifting his backpack and picking up the pace of his walk.  
“Sorry Frank! I’m sure you’ll see another one, you have the whole summer here after all.”  
“Uh-huh.”  
By the time he gets to the location of the campfire, it’s barely burning anymore, just orange embers kicking up sparks every so often.  
“Found the fire, and I’m putting it out now. No sign of the punks yet, but they left their trash everywhere, beer bottles and... is that a nude magazine?” Frank comments in disgust, toeing the edge of the magazine carefully.  
“They what? For chrissakes! Can’t people pick up their garbage? I mean, is it really that hard?” Karen exclaims in irritation before sighing.  
Frank hears laughter, from a group boys most likely, and he steadily makes his way towards it.  
He peeks behind a tree and sure enough, there are three boys no older than seventeen sat together, sharing a bottle of some miscellaneous alcohol.  
They have two tents between them, and are all sat on a log together, and Frank notices they all look quite distanced from reality, like nerdy outcasts.  
“What are you guys doing?” He asks gruffly, and the three of them jump at once, turning their heads to look at him in mild horror.  
“We’re just... hanging out,” the one closest to him mumbles, blinking a few times and readjusting his glasses to stare at Frank’s huge stature and large arms.  
“Maybe you guys should ‘hang out’ without lighting a campfire. You do realise you’re not allowed to do that right? We’re having a really hot summer and the last thing this forest needs is a fire getting out of control because a bunch of kids couldn’t resist lighting something up.” He folds his arms across his chest and watches them disapprovingly.  
They all squirm, avoiding his eye contact and glancing nervously at each other. Frank runs his fingers through his beard, staring at the boy closest to him intensely.  
“Yes, uh... sorry. Sorry sir... it won’t happen again,” another boy stammers, bundling up his stuff and inching away from Frank.  
“Good. You guys watch yourselves out here ok? Don’t want any of you getting attacked by a bear or something...”   
He nods curtly at them, their terrified faces staring back at him with wide eyes and he silently chuckles to himself, it brought him glee to see them shuffle about uncomfortably.  
When he’s a good distance away from him, he picks up his radio and almost starts laughing as their faces reappear in his mind.  
“Hey Karen, I solved our little problem.”  
“Oh? How so?”  
“Well, once I told these boys that they should scramble because there might be bears around, they seemed _pretty_ adamant to leave.”  
Karen laughs and smacks the desk.“You did what? Oh my god Frank, are you serious? Wait, wait, wait, what did they look like? Like, when you told them about the bears thing?” She sounded hugely intrigued, he could picture her now, leaning forward as she eagerly awaited his response.  
“Absolutely mortified. They‘re mouths were hung wide open, I don’t think they were expecting anyone.” Frank shakes his head and glances up at the sky, noticing the sun setting lower and lower.  
“Sounds like you enjoyed yourself there.” He can tell she’s smiling as she says it, and he can’t help but wonder what she looks like when she’s smiling.  
“Yeah... I kinda did.”  
Frank stops, short of breath at the side of the trail back to his tower, leaning on a tree to regain his energy before continuing the hike.  
“Hey Frank, do you see the sunset?”   
Frank re-orientates himself to face the sun, and his breath is almost knocked out of his lungs.  
The sun cast a the sky in a deep amber orange, tinted with soft pinks that radiated warmth. The colours were so vivid, it left Frank breathless.  
The wind picks up, rustling his clothes and the trees around him, a swirling sweetness of pine and calm.  
If he could take a picture he would, but there was something do profound about witnessing such a beautiful sight without the awkwardness of trying to picture it, something special about containing such a powerful memory within his mind for only him to see. And Karen of course.  
“Holy shit,” he mutters.  
“Holy shit is right,” Karen mumbles in response. “I see sunsets like that all the time and it still manages to leave me lost for words. You might wanna get used to that sight Frank, you’re gonna see it a whole lot this summer.”  
“I’m looking forward to it.”  
He’s left, clutching the radio in his hand and gazing in wonder as the golden orb disappears over the hills, leaving only the faintest trace of soft orange behind.


	4. Day 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frank has a small accident in the forest and recounts memories of his children with Karen, realising along the journey something that surprises him.

**Day 15**  
Frank’s sat in the middle of the forest, a little way off the path crouched atop a log as he asses the damage done to his leg after tripping through some brambles.  
He’d been careless, distracted by the sudden wail of what he can only assume to be some sort of animal, tripping over a rock jutting out of the path.  
“Shit, shit, shit,” Frank mutters, hastily wiping the cut on his leg with a rag he stashed away in the pocket of his backpack.  
His cargo pants are ripped, and he grumbles as the blood continues to trickle down his leg and sit in his sock, the bright crimson a stark difference against the white cotton.  
Frank’s irritation only grows as he realises the bleeding won’t slow, and the pain isn’t going to disappear in the next few minutes. Also, the fact that the heat is _unbearable_ out here, and he has to wipe his forehead every few seconds to stop the sweat dripping into his eyes.  
The option he has is to hobble back to his tower, dripping blood everywhere, or see if there’s a cabin or something close by with medical supplies.   
He glances at the radio on his belt and breathes deeply in through his nose, holding his breath as he snatches it up to ask for help from Karen.  
“Hey, so uh, I need a little bit of help. I cut my leg on a trail and I was wondering if there was any supplies I could get to instead of going all the way back to my cabin. I’m at Russo Creek, by the way.”  
He doesn’t have to wait long until she responds, almost immediately in fact, like she was waiting around for something to happen.  
“There’s a cache box with some medical supplies close by if you cross the two streams. What happened Frank? Are you alright? Do you need me to send you any help?” She sounds genuinely concerned, and it makes Frank a little more happy than it should, and he feels his mood lighten considerably.  
“Nah, just one of those deers you mentioned the other day tried to eat me, it was terrifying Karen. He chased me all down this path and wasn’t satisfied until he saw me roll down a hill.” He grins slightly as he says it, hoping to direct the attention away from his embarrassing accident.  
She laughs softly and the way she sounds makes him almost topple over as he rises to his feet with a huff of breath.  
“You can’t say I didn’t warn you. But really... what happened?”  
He grunts as he sets off at a steady pace, his finger hovering over the button as he debates whether to lie or tell the truth. And it’s a difficult call, deciding if he should sacrifice his pride or not.  
“I... I heard this loud animal noise, tripped over a rock and fell into some brambles.” He winces after he says it, knowing he sounds like a fool. There’s silence for a few seconds before he hears muffled snorts across the line and can’t help but smile at her.  
“You... you got scared by an animal noise? And tripped?” She giggles quietly, and Frank tries his best to force a frown, but he can’t despite his best attempts.  
“No, listen. It was more like a wailing noise ok? It was deep and- and throaty and it was really, _really_ loud.”   
He seems to have provoked her laughter more because he can hear what sounds like small gasps and more snorting noises.  
“What? What’s so funny?” He questions with a puzzled expression, hopping across some stones to get past the stream, wincing as the sunlight hits his eyes.  
“It’s mating season for the raccoons Frank. I’ve heard they’re usually quite loud but _oh my god_ I’ve never heard anyone get that startled before.”  
Frank stops dead in his tracks, pressing his lips together and taking in the complete ridiculousness of the situation.  
“You’re kidding?”   
“Nope. Not in the slightest.”  
Her giggles soon dissolve into soft sighs and Frank, although having made a complete fool of himself in front of Karen, successfully made her laugh for a few minutes about something completely accidental.  
“I see the cache.” He rounds the orange box with the signature pine tree logo on it, setting his backpack down on the ground. “What’s-uh, what’s the code?” He fiddles around with the padlock, the metal clinking against the latch.  
“Oh, it’s one, two, three, four.”  
Frank chuckles. “Man, as diligent as the service is on stopping fires, they aren’t so keen on security are they?” He shuffles the numbers in, hearing the satisfying click before the lock comes undone in his hand.  
“Well, the boxes never usually have anything crazy in them, just books or flyers. Or med kits for the idiots who trip on a trail.”   
He chuckles softly, shaking his head, before throwing the lid of the cache open to search for the supplies. Frank grabs the green box, looking around for anything else that would be interesting, only a couple of rocks and magazines.  
He grunts in effort as he lowers himself to the ground, stabilising himself against a tree to slide downwards until he can feel the grass between his fingers.  
“So you know what you’re doing right? You need any help putting a band aid on?” Karen teases gently, Frank lets out a harsh breath and opens the med kit, a smile on his face.  
“I don’t know ma’am, I might need a little help.” He grabs some ointment and a wipe, dabbing away the blood around the cut and wincing as sharp pains pinprick his skin.  
“I know you have kids, did you spend a lot of time patching them up?”  
The sudden question about his children startles Frank slightly, and he jerks his head suddenly, not used to people taking an interest in his life.  
“I did actually. The pair of them loved playing outside, unfortunately for me. My son, Frank Jr., we bought him this bike for his birthday one year and he never got off of it. He would ride it up and down the street on the weekends with his friends, showing off and tryna do stupid shit like wheelies. And then he’d come back home with scrapes on his knees, holding in tears because he’s tryna be a ‘man’. And I have to sit there, patching this kid up while I try and tell him that it’s ok to cry, that in fact you’re no less of a man for doing that. Then I have to tell him to stop doing wheelies because he’s being an idiot. Kid would still do it the following weekend. He’d never learn.”  
Frank recalls those memories favourably, they remind him of a time when he was between tours in the marines, when he was at home with his family and everything was amazing. Everything seemed to fit together perfectly, and all those years of hard work with Maria and putting the house together had paid off.  
He sighs, screwing his mouth up and bandaging up his leg, wrapping the bandages as securely as possible.  
“I was the same when I was younger. I was an outdoors kid too, we had these woods next to my house and me and my brother would go in there to ‘explore’. We would climb trees, no matter how many times our parents told us it was dangerous. This one time, I climbed way too high, my brother was telling me to get down but I was too excited. It was the furthest I’d climbed in my life, and I could see, what I perceived at the time, the whole forest. All the little squirrels in the nearby trees, the leaves so vibrantly green you could almost taste the colour. I felt really powerful. And then I slipped. I tried my best to grab onto the branches on the way down, and I can’t remember what happened entirely, but I blacked out and ended up having to go to the hospital with a broken wrist. When it healed I still climbed the trees at the back of my house. I was a pain in the ass looking back.” She’s silent, and the absence of her conversation makes him sombre, as they both reflect on their pasts with fondness.  
Karen sighs on the line and he feels his heart drop in his chest.  
“Oh, hey um... I have to talk to this ranger, he’s setting up climbing equipment or   
something. But I’ll talk to you later Frank, hope your leg heals up soon. I enjoy our chats, for what it’s worth.”  
“And for what it’s worth to you, I enjoy them too Karen.”  
He smiles to himself as he hears her hum approvingly before switching her radio off, and he’s left alone, once again, with his thoughts.  
He realises that he, in fact, likes her a lot more than he thought he would. Frank expected to feel crabby out here, isolated in the heat. Instead, he finds himself craving friendship so much more than he did before.


End file.
